JNo. 4.] NATURE'S FORESTERS. 283 



supply of food which he will never gather. As Thoreau 

 says, he is "planting a hickory wood for all creation." 



Even the wood mice are given to such tricks. While 

 living, one winter, in the woods, four children had stored in 

 the house several quarts of chestnuts. These chestnuts 

 would disappear mysteriously from their receptacles, and 

 reappear in the most unique places. If on retiring at night 

 one left his shoes upon the floor, in the morning he would 

 lind the toes stuffed with chestnuts. They were found de- 

 posited in various hiding-places all about the house, and 

 were moved from night to night, being carried from the 

 ground floor to the attic and returned again. Single chest- 

 nuts, chestnuts by pairs, chestnuts by the dozen and by the 

 score were transported and hidden in the most unlikely 

 places throughout the building. A full quart of these chest- 

 nuts might be gathered in the morning from the various 

 places in which they had been secreted during the night. 

 There were no house mice or squirrels in the house, but by 

 keeping a watch and setting a few mouse traps it was found 

 that a small colony of deer mice had stolen the chestnuts and 

 put them "in circulation." Here, then, we have a planter 

 of chestnuts. 



The birds and squirrels destroy a great part of the seed 

 crop, but the trees produce a great surplus, and the wild 

 creatures plant and leave to germinate an abundance of good 

 seed. Thus the destroyer of the seed disseminates and per- 

 petuates the very tree which furnishes its sustenance. 



The Succession of Forest Trees. 

 When you cut down an oak or chestnut wood, especially 

 if it is old and heavy timber, a pine wood is likely to spring 

 up in its place, particularly if there are pines near by ; 

 while, if you cut off a pine wood, it is usually succeeded by 

 a wood composed mainly of deciduous trees, mostly hard 

 woods, or the nut, cone or acorn bearing kinds. Such a 

 succession of trees has long been considered by farmers to 

 be the rule. In other words, in some way there comes 

 rotation of crops when wood lots are cut off. It is believed 

 by some to be due to the springing up of seed which has 

 been buried for many years in the ground. When au oak 



